The Trustees of Historic Bethabara Park

Historic Bethabara Park, Inc., is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, established to bequeath the Moravian heritage to the future in trust and to maintain a historic museum on the 183-acre, 1753 site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. The Mission of the Board of Trustees is to preserve, acquire and interpret our cultural and natural histories to make a better future. Members of the Bethabara Board of Trustees are selected with an eye toward the various needs of board administration and outreach, as well as to support the stated educational goals that are involved in the Mission of the Park. Board members bring backgrounds in finance, education, law, Moravian and natural history, and community relations to the Park.

Historic Bethabara Park is a unique organization whose governance involves four distinct entities—the City of Winston-Salem, the State of North Carolina, the Southern Province of the Moravian Church, and Historic Bethabara Park, Inc., herein referred to as the Board of Trustees. The Park is funded by the City of Winston Salem to pay operational expenses. The historic buildings and grounds are owned by the Provincial Elders Conference of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church and leased to the Historic Bethabara Park, Inc. Trustees, who are responsible for their oversight. The State of North Carolina owns land within Park boundaries and contracts with the Trustees to manage it.

Trustees were instrumental in the formation of the Park and in the major restoration of the historic buildings. In 1983 the Trustees raised over $700,000 to construct the Edwin L. Stockton, Sr. Visitor Center, after which they raised $500,000 to acquire land located between the Park and Reynolda Road. In 1994 the Trustees undertook a second Capital Campaign and raised over $2 million dollars, allowing them to acquire additional property that had originally been part of colonial Bethabara, to initiate major facility additions and improvements, to remove apartment houses from the historic property, to modify Bethabara Road though the Park for the safety of visitors, and to bury utility lines throughout the Park. The land that the Trustees purchased to extend the colonial site serves to protect the 50 acre Bethabara Historic District (listed on the National Register of Historic Places.) Significant gifts from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the Sara Lee Corporation, Wachovia Bank and Trust Company, the Winston-Salem Foundation and other corporations, foundations and individuals enabled the Trustees to significantly expand Park acreage. Under the Trustees the U.S. Department of the Interior named Historic Bethabara a National Historic Landmark, the highest national designation.

The Trustees continue to play an important role in the administration of the Park. They seek to acquire property to protect and expand the site. They formulate policy regarding the use of the historic buildings and grounds. They fund archaeology excavations and undertake historic preservation projects. They insure that Park staff is equipped with a state-of-the-art information system through the purchase of computers and software. They are actively involved as volunteers at Park festivals and special events. Trustees put up tents, oversee parking, man information tables, load wagons for horse-drawn wagon rides and transport visitors. They support special projects, such as the construction of the 1754 Colonial Village, built with funds raised by the Beroth family as trustees and as interested citizens in honor of their ancestor, Johannes Beroth, who was one of the initial settlers. Trustees provide professional landscaping assistance and fund beautification projects. Perhaps most importantly, these citizen volunteers are impressive spokespersons for the Park and through their leadership in the Park leverage their collective influence on behalf of the city in the larger community.

William T. Lawler, Chair

Kim Berlin, Vice Chair

Heather Smith, Treasurer

Valerie Briggs Solomon, Secretary

Olan Beam

Kim Berlin

George Beroth

Paul F Briggs, Jr

Jane Carmichael

Ashley Carros

Joyce J Pope

Kem Schroeder

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